Inspiring Music and Great Messages!

Everyone arrived safely at the feast and there were 84 on the opening Night service. The Theme of the feast this year is "Going on to Perfection!". Posted below is the opening welcoming message from the feast coordinator, Oludare Akinbo as well as a special music titled "The Name Of The Lord Shall be Exalted"

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Feast Theme: Going on to Perfection

Mr. and Mrs Oludare Akinbo, Festival 2014 Coordinators. 

God began to add people to be part of His household, The Church Of God, almost 6,000 years ago starting with righteous Abel (Matthew 23:25), various prophets, on to the Apostles and believers ever since. We belong to that select few in this age and time, and so we are related by being God’s Children.

^“19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” Ephesians 2:19-20

Satan, the enemy of God’s people, has always been working and scheming to destroy the Church of God. He started by killing Abel, and he thought he was accomplishing anything by having our Lord Jesus Christ killed, not knowing it was within the plan of God all along. He has never stopped trying to destroy the members of God’s Church ever since.  He is doomed to fail!  Christ declared to us a resounding surefire promise in Matthew 16:18

^“18 … on this rock [referring to Himself, being THE ROCK OF AGES], I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[b] [the grave] will not overcome it.”

This implies that there will be attempts to destroy the Church of God. This WILL NOT succeed! There will ALWAYS be, on this earth, those who are faithful and committed to doing the WILL of The Father regardless of whatever the Devil throws at them. He would provide the encouragement, strength and power needed to resist and stand firm.

Satan will use our desires as well as persecution and trails from family, friends, work, various circumstances and whatever form his brilliant, cunning and twisted mind can dream up, to challenge us, attempt to frustrate, discourage, sow seeds of doubt, anger, malice, envy, enmity, selfishness, pride and sin in us.

Knowing this brethren, at this stage in the events leading to the coming of our Lord and Savior, we should therefore be “…leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, [and] let us go on to perfection…” (Hebrews 6:1)

Going on to perfection goes beyond keeping the Holy and Righteous Laws of God. It requires that we be willing to give up anything and everything for the Joy and privilege of following our Lord and Master.

See the principle here as Christ laid it out to a man who claims to know, and be keeping from his youth the commandments of that Jesus Christ outlined for him:

²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

To avoid making the same choice this man made, we need to move from still struggling with the basic principles of our calling, and be going on to perfection.

Apostle Peter outlined a way to help us achieve this and I hope we can take it to heart and start growing in doing these:

⁵ But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 

So, brethren, LET US START PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO OUR GROWTH IN CHRIST, GOING ON TO PERFECTION….

Have a wonderful, exciting and inspiring feast, full of joy, fun, fellowship, feasting, peace in our Lord and God, and hope for an assured tomorrow.

Hag Sameach!